Stretch Marks.

Part 4.

Ely's POV

None of what was happening should be happening. I was cutting her short, and I was not deserving of what she was offering.

Sage was too good for me. She was smart, she was independent, she had a plan. I was the first two, but I desperately lacked the third. I didn't have a plan. Not a life plan, not a college plan, not even a moment plan.

The only reason I was even in school was because I wanted to make my mom proud and because Sage was too willing to help me if I stayed with it, along with a couple of others. She was one of my best friends for a reason. So when she asked me to come unglued for her, I wasn't... it wasn't, what I wanted to do.

The lines between Lovers and Friends had never been blurred with us before. They were clearly etched out. As if big red and black sharpies had gone over the lines multiple times, I always knew what I was not supposed to cross, and it seemed that she did too. Until she did it.

Now I wasn't sure how to act. What did she want? What did I want? Everything was uncertain. And I was starting to question it. I wanted to know how long her mind had been in that place.

She claimed to be ignoring her feelings, and she might've been. But how long had she had them? When did she realize? How deep did they run? Could she tell I had feelings too?

Flashback

"Lijahhhhhhhh?" Whenever she called me that, something wasn't right.

"What's up Sage, what do you need?" I balanced the phone in my neck and my shoulder blade. If this wasn't important I was going to tag her ass when I saw her.

"I'm bored, it's Saturday, come get me."

I kissed my teeth. "Really Sage? I answered the phone while I was taking a piss only for a come get me call. You could've just sent that shit to me in a text."

I could hear her mumble some shit on the other side is the phone, but I didn't quite catch it. "First off eww. Second, please wash your hands... and use toilet paper. That shake shit doesn't get rid of any of the germs."

"Me and my dick... We good. We have a system that works for us, stay on your side of the phone."

This time I caught the shit that she uttered, and I was almost surprised it came from her mouth. "I want to know the system."

I didn't think I'd quite heard her correctly. The Sage I knew wouldn't have said that. The friend I knew didn't even think like that. "I'm sorry. Repeat that."

The other line went vibrantly quiet. So quiet in fact, I could hear her breathing even start to stagger. "What do you think I said?"

Just from knowing her ass the way I knew I did, I knew how she was going to play this. "Sage I didn't ask myself a question, I asked you a question. That meant an answer..." A few moments passed and all I heard was breathing.

"I'm serious Sage. Start talking." I envisioned the contours of her face moving on from a slow-rising fear to a burning anger from speaking to her the way I had. That's usually how it went.

She still had yet to say anything, but that was cool. I threw on some grey sweats that were just lying around, placed some Jordans on my feet, and had my keys in my hand before I heard her let out a very breathy sigh. She wasn't running away from this conversation... not today anyway.

"You know what. Fuck it. I'll be there in 8 mins. Be outside." Deciding that I wasn't about to put up with Sage and her unstable ass emotions today, I drove to her house getting there in record time. We lived about a 15-20 min walk away, and depending on how traffic went, a little more than a five min drive away.